2017 Lego Trains

[ElectroDiva]

I haven't seen a thread for 2017 trains (mods please feel free to merge/delete if I missed it) and thought it was high time we started one.

 

We currently have 3 non-duplo train sets on sale:

60051: High Speed Passenger Train (2014)

60052: Cargo Train (2014)

60098: Heavy Haul Train (2015)

 

Plus 2 track packs (one of which is the much maligned flexible & straight track pack)

 

I found out today that the only train "building" to have been sold in the past two years (60050 - train station) has also now been retired.

 

Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not feeling much love as a Lego Train fan - it's pretty slim pickings at the moment...

 

I have a couple of mod/moc projects to keep me going but would really appreciate a decent official set (or two) this year. What are the chances of that happening?

 

Surely they have to replace one of the 2014 sets and at least get a replacement station out in 2017?

 

 

 

[McWaffel]

I have a slight suspicion that trains will be something that we won't see at all beyond 2020. They've been slowly declining for a couple of years now...

[ElectroDiva]

Agree it's been declining as a sub-theme for years but I can't see them dropping it completely.

 

Lego as a construction toy/model brand would be poorer without trains. They're a fundamental part of even a basic Lego town/city (which surely every Lego fan aspires to have?)

 

Would be interesting to see the sales figures though

[Duq]

Brief history of Lego City Trains:

2006

• 7897 Passenger Train
• 7898 Cargo Train

2007

• 7997 Train Station

2010

• 7936 Level Crossing
• 7937 Train Station
• 7938 Passenger Train
• 7939 Cargo Train

2011

• 3677 Red Cargo Train

2014

• 60050 Train Station
• 60051 High-Speed Passenger Train
• 60052 Cargo Train

2015

• 60098 Heavy-Haul Train

See the pattern? For some reason 7997 was released a year late and the level crossing is not part of the regular sequence either but based on this I would expect a station, passenger train and freigh train again in 2018.

[ecmo47]

Maybe already mentioned but I find it ironic that Lego included a train layout in the 10255 Assemble Square as part of the AFOL apartment interior. 

 

[PeteM]

I agree that we're unlikely to see anything from the City theme for a while yet, though I'm a bit surprised that the station has gone so early. A possible ray of light are the occasional interlopers from other themes - we've had the Toy Story, Lone Ranger and Winter Village trains in the past six years. I obviously have no idea what new themes are coming up and those that can justify a train set are sadly few, but we can hope!

 

However, I assume that, having produced steam, diesel and electric models, the Creator Expert run is at an end :(

[ElectroDiva]

15 hours ago, Duq said:

See the pattern? For some reason 7997 was released a year late and the level crossing is not part of the regular sequence either but based on this I would expect a station, passenger train and freigh train again in 2018.

 

Definitely seems like a pattern - roll on 2018 :)

 

I hope they release at least one new set this year though. Will be a dull year as a train fan without it

[ElectroDiva]

2 hours ago, PeteM said:

However, I assume that, having produced steam, diesel and electric models, the Creator Expert run is at an end :(

I really hope not. There's a ton of new stuff they could do with the existing track system - subway, double decker, trams.

 

They could even bring back monorail (wishful thinking I know)

Edited January 30, 2017 by ElectroDiva

[JopieK]

Maybe finally time for a LEGO Idea Train / Tram item?!

[dr_spock]

It made it to the review stage. It's wait and see if it makes it to production. 

 

[Bernie56]

7 hours ago, ElectroDiva said:

They could even bring back monorail (wishful thinking I know)

I'd do cartwheels (that too is wishful thinking) and buy 2 in a heartbeat.

[Klaus-Dieter]

On the one hand there is absolutely no sign yet that there'll be any Train set this year. Plus the WV Train late last year makes it more unsuppoably. At least a Creator train this year sounds unbelievable to me.

On the other hand there is still one City set left on the sets list which will be an Exclusive and which isn't already attached to a subtheme of City. I personally bet that it'll be a Jungle Explorer Exclusive. But who knows? Maybe it turns out to be a train set. An elevated train is since very long overdue and a new track repair train would be welcome, too.

In the past years the City Exclusives have been shown at Legoworld Denmark. So it's supposably that this year it'll be the same case. Consequently in about one month we should know which two City Exclusives we'll get and even whether the one unattached of them will be a train set or not.

[PeteM]

Sadly I think the best chance of a train-related set this year is the Ideas 'Vintage Tram' (though I'd be more than happy with that, it's an excellent model!) - the City release pattern above seems logical and I agree that the Winter Village train decreases the chance of any non-City theme train set in the immediate future. Ah well, we've still had 12 trains in 8 years which isn't too bad going for a supposedly unpopular genre!

11 hours ago, ElectroDiva said:

I really hope not. There's a ton of new stuff they could do with the existing track system - subway, double decker, trams.

 

They could even bring back monorail (wishful thinking I know)

Crossing all my fingers! :)

[ElectroDiva]

5 hours ago, dr_spock said:

It made it to the review stage. It's wait and see if it makes it to production. 

 

I completely forgot that vintage tram was still in the running to get picked as an Ideas set. That would do nicely :)

 

My burgeoning Lego city could really use a quaint old tram system - i'd buy at least two of those in a heartbeat!

3 hours ago, Klaus-Dieter said:

On the other hand there is still one City set left on the sets list which will be an Exclusive and which isn't already attached to a subtheme of City. I personally bet that it'll be a Jungle Explorer Exclusive. But who knows? Maybe it turns out to be a train set. An elevated train is since very long overdue and a new track repair train would be welcome, too.

 

Hmmm - what better way to traverse the jungle than in a futuristic monorail? 

 

[xboxtravis7992]

21 hours ago, ecmo47 said:

Maybe already mentioned but I find it ironic that Lego included a train layout in the 10255 Assemble Square as part of the AFOL apartment interior. 

 

Yes it seems adult collectors are more into Lego trains then kids are. I think the price point of many Lego trains makes it so the average kid will be lucky to just get one; hence the reason City sets come out with trains every few years; and the sets stay on the shelves a long time. That way kids can get their "one" train, to ad to their other sets.

Of course for adult collectors this is frustrating. There are over a dozen trains I wish Lego would do as an official set; yet I doubt they will ever touch those ideas. Thank goodness we have a large MOC community to keep things interesting; while those who really want to collect the trains themselves also have the option of going with other modeling mediums. 

[Duq]

I really don't think the price point is the issue. Compare a City trainset to iPhones, tablets and Playstations that seem to be normal xmas presents.

 

I will never understand the Monorail obsession. I've been a Trains fan as long as I've been an AFOL but I couldn't care less about a Monorail return...

Some excuse to finally create that 4-wide straight track would be nice though.

[pirzyk]

12 hours ago, Duq said:

Some excuse to finally create that 4-wide straight track would be nice though.

Why not just make your own with 2x6 plate and straight rail?

http://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3228c#T=C

[Lyichir]

22 minutes ago, pirzyk said:

Why not just make your own with 2x6 plate and straight rail?

http://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3228c#T=C

It's definitely an option but not necessarily an ideal one. For one thing, while the length of those rails is equal to the inclined versions, the way Lego tracks join up means that you'd have to space them at least a half-module away from the end of whichever track piece you're joining them to (potentially messing up your intended track geometry). For another, it just doesn't look as good as a dedicated track piece would.

[xboxtravis7992]

13 hours ago, Duq said:

I really don't think the price point is the issue. Compare a City trainset to iPhones, tablets and Playstations that seem to be normal xmas presents.

In defense of my earlier statement; I still think the price point does affect spending. Yes it is comparable to all those other things (if not cheaper in many regards). But what are the chances a kid is going to be getting more than a couple hundred dollars of gifts each year? So if the parents buy them something like a video game console the same year; how much money are they then willing to spend on Lego? Sort of a reference to when I was younger, it seemed every year my parents limited their Lego spending for me to about $100-$200 dollars. Out of the Lego train sets I own; the only ones they bought for me were the original Hogwarts Express (which had those ugly faux wheels); and the 2014 City blue train which they got me while I was living out of the country. All the rest of my Lego trains (the first three Creator Expert trains) I had to save up for and pay for myself as a teenager. I really only could expect my parents buying me one or two sets normally out of my price reach; when I was a kid those were the Star Wars large sets, as a teenager and adult it was the Modular Buildings (and I expect the older I get, that while they will continue to buy me Lego I feel they are reaching the end of spending so much money on Christmas for their adult son! )

So yes, price is an issue. Now if a kid is really into Lego trains, maybe their parents could get them once a year then. But if a kid only has a passing interest in trains, their parents will probably just buy them their one train set; then just continue focusing on buying Lego sets the kid has an interest in. Lego trains are pricey in the world of Lego.

Of course in the world of model railroading... Lego trains are actually a decent price. But what a serious HO scale/N scale/O scale/Proto48 or even an AFOL Lego collector considers "cheap and affordable" is far different from what a KFOL or their parents would define! 

 

[ElectroDiva]

8 hours ago, xboxtravis7992 said:

So yes, price is an issue. Now if a kid is really into Lego trains, maybe their parents could get them once a year then. But if a kid only has a passing interest in trains, their parents will probably just buy them their one train set; then just continue focusing on buying Lego sets the kid has an interest in. Lego trains are pricey in the world of Lego

 

"starter kits" (with track, power functions, side builds etc) can be expensive but if you look back historically at the creator expert/advanced trains, they really weren't that expensive (1/2 to 2/3 the cost of a cargo starter kit). 

 

I think a bigger issue at the moment (from a pricing standpoint) is the fact that Lego only seem to want to sell starter kits - they have *three* of them on sale at the moment !!!. Is that really the best way to build a following for trains?

 

Wouldnt it be better to have 1 (max 2 starter kits) and supplement with a loco+carriage pack, or better still, individual loco, carriage and cargo wagon packs?

 

I've gifted a cargo train starter kit to two different nephews and both of them would love to be able to add extra locos and carriages/wagons to their sets. Lego doesn't provide any cheap/easy ways to do that though

[M_slug357]

10 hours ago, xboxtravis7992 said:

Of course in the world of model railroading... Lego trains are actually a decent price. But what a serious HO scale/N scale/O scale/Proto48 or even an AFOL Lego collector considers "cheap and affordable" is far different from what a KFOL or their parents would define! 

Under this line of thought, Lego should return to a format similar to the "My Own Train" days?

I think that the idea was good, but the implementation was terrible. If I could redo it, the first thing would be that all sets should have at least 1-2 alternate builds. Second, I would borrow the combine-ability of mixels & bionicle to allow for the construction of larger engines & rolling stock. Lastly, I wouldn't bring back the multiple color schemes (that was used on the engines) per sé, but rather have common elements present in the series of sets that are in alternate colors-- for ex., engine set A would have various curved parts in blue that are also present in freight car set B, but in red, thus allowing you to swap those parts.

Just another out-there idea of mine.

Anyways, back to wild speculation of new trains:

"What color do you speculate the next train(s) will be?"

I'm hoping for another blue one (pref dark), and think we may get a full sized version of 31054!!

[Elysiumfountain]

I would love to see another Emerald Night-type train, that would be cool! (Especially seeing as I came along a little too late to get one before the price skyrocketed). But even if they could make something based off of a really recognizable named train, that would be cool, at least maybe some people would be interested if it was something they'd seen in movies or such.

Then again, I can't really complain because I have my Orient Express, so I'm satisfied for the moment. :)

[Klaus-Dieter]

On 1.2.2017 at 1:33 AM, M_slug357 said:

Anyways, back to wild speculation of new trains:

"What color do you speculate the next train(s) will be?"

I'm hoping for another blue one (pref dark), and think we may get a full sized version of 31054!!

I hope blue, too! Yellow or green would be fine, too. But white and red are some sort of already overused.

Btw: In principle we really can't complain about TLG regarding the release of train sets. Except for 2012, from 2010 til 2016 there has been minimum one train set every year.

[Carefree_Dude]

On 1/29/2017 at 7:13 PM, ecmo47 said:

Maybe already mentioned but I find it ironic that Lego included a train layout in the 10255 Assemble Square as part of the AFOL apartment interior. 

 

Sad to say, but I think it's more of a city scape with roads and a car and a tunnel. 

 

 

Another thing I noticed, is that the power functions parts for powering a train are getting difficult to come by. Lego.com seems to be having IR receiver, battery box, and train motor on backorder at the moment. 

[tafkatb]

12 minutes ago, Goldenmasamune said:

Another thing I noticed, is that the power functions parts for powering a train are getting difficult to come by. Lego.com seems to be having IR receiver, battery box, and train motor on backorder at the moment. 

I think that's mostly due to S@H still catching up with higher than expected sales of 10254. I'm sure they'll come back soon enough.